Electronic equipment such as televisions, telephones, radios, and computers are often constructed using semiconductor components, such as integrated circuits, memory chips, and the like. The semiconductor components are constructed from various microelectronic devices, such as transistors, capacitors, diodes, resistors, and the like. Each microelectronic device is generally constructed from a pattern of conductor, semiconductor, and insulator regions that are formed on a semiconductor substrate.
A Field Effect Transistor (FET) generally includes a conductive gate formed near the semiconductor substrate to control the flow of current from a source to a drain of the transistor. One type of FET utilizes a raised source and drain to increase the amount of current that can be switched by the transistor. A sidewall insulation body formed between the gate and the raised source and drain is used to prevent the gate from shorting to the raised source and drain. The gate in combination with the sidewall insulation body and the raised drain generally forms an unwanted parasitic capacitance, often referred to in the art as a gate-to-drain capacitance.
As the geometries of microelectronic devices decrease and the density of the microelectronic devices in a semiconductor component increase, the distance between the gate and the drain of the transistor decreases, resulting in a corresponding increase in the gate-to-drain capacitance. The higher the gate-to-drain capacitance, the greater the adverse affect on the operation of the transistor. For example, the higher the gate-to-drain capacitance, the slower the switching speed of the transistor.
In addition, some gate fabrication techniques utilize an etching process, such as plasma etching or wet chemical etching, to chemically remove material to form the microelectronic devices. Some etching processes used in fabricating the gate removes material that would otherwise be beneficial to the construction or operation of the microelectronic device. The loss of the beneficial material during the etching process can reduce the manufacturability or operating ability of the gate, transistor, semiconductor component, and the electronic equipment.